Game On!
Broomball at the Triangle SportsPlex

Are you aware that the Triangle SportsPlex offers Broomball sessions? Well, we do! Social groups, church groups, fraternity and sororities have played the growing game here at the SportsPlex. We have even hosted major corporations who have played this fun and team oriented sport as a tool for team building or end of year gatherings. So if you are asking yourself, what is Broomball? I’m going to help you with some research that I’ve done on this expanding sport.

Broomball is a popular recreational ice sport originating in Canada and played around the world. It is played on a hockey rink, either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team. A player uses a stick (a shaft with a molded broom-shaped head) to maneuver a six-inch diameter ball up and down the ice. The broom is the stick used in the sport of broomball. Traditionally it was a normal household broom, with the bristles frozen, dipped in rubber, or wrapped in tape (usually duct tape) to harden them. Today's competition brooms are manufactured with a specialized rubber triangular head attached to a wooden or aluminum shaft. The balls are made of a rubber shell and do not bounce at all. Depending on the temperature at the rink, there are two different rubber qualities-blue balls are for colder temperatures and orange or red balls for higher temperatures. Instead of skates, players wear spongy-soled shoes or tennis shoes to gain traction when running on the slippery surface. It is a game very similar to hockey in its formation and rules, but also incorporates some soccer strategies.

The history of Broomball is kind of interesting because there are so many theories on how the game actually came to be. One theory I found stated that modern-day broomball originated in Canada by simple experimentation with playing a sport similar to ice hockey on ice without the need for skates. However, recent research indicates that a sport known as knattleikr was played in Iceland in the 18th century that was similar to broomball. The sport was almost considered warfare, with the occasional death not uncommon, and games could involve whole villages and lasted up to fourteen days. Other theories include, around the turn of the century, people that cleaned the ice for curling and skating were the first to hit a ball with a broom. Maybe inspired from old Indian games (like Lacrosse) did this evolved to what we now call Broomball.

Other stories I gathered on how this game, “Broomball”, was started has it that street car drivers used to hit a small ball about the ice in winter with straw brooms during their lunch breaks. Another story states that a group of soccer players started the game after being intrigued by a small boy who was swatting a ball with a toy broom. Other stories include, Broomball was started as a way for non-skaters to participate in an on ice sport. A fourth story has it that Broomball was started by women players who were unable to participate in the male dominated and controlled sport of ice hockey and thus came up with an alternative sport that they could compete in. So the start of Broomball is pretty inconclusive, I would say. The first recorded broomball games in North America were in Saskatchewan in 1909 and Ontario in 1911, although there is some evidence to suggest broomball was being played as early as the 1890s. From Canada the game spread south to the United States, becoming especially popular in Minnesota.

If you are interested in getting your group on the ice for a fun and exciting game of Broomball please contact me for rates and scheduling.

Mark Hamlett 919-644-0339 ext.243
Usual available Ice Times for Broomball run Friday & Saturday Nights at 10:15 pm.
Book your party in advance!

Late Night Ice Rental Rates

Put your Friday & Saturday Nights on the Ice!
Late night ice rentals available for ice skating or broom ball. Social parties, club activities, or just a bunch of friends getting together, TSP is the place to chill. Fraternities and Sororities welcome!